A total 1,122 candidates have cleared the prestigious Civil Services Examination 2013, with Gaurav Agrawal, a BTech from IIT Kanpur and also an IIM Lucknow alumnus, bagging the top position. While the second rank has gone to Munish Sharma, a BSc in bio-chemistry from Sri Venkateswara College here, Bharti Dixit, an MBBS from Lady Hardinge Medical College here, is the top-scoring woman candidate, with overall fifth rank.

While it was the second attempt for the top two rankers, Dixit hit the jackpot in her maiden try. Agrawal, selected for IPS in his first attempt at Civil Services Examination, is currently undergoing training at the Sardar Vallabbhai National Police Academy in Hyderabad. He appeared for the exam from Jaipur.

Agrawal, who earlier worked as an investment banker with Citigroup in Hong Kong, credited his family and his near and dear ones for his success. "I used to study for 10-12 hours for my last exams. For 2013 Civil Services, I studied for about 6-8 hours," he was quoted by PTI as saying.

Second-rank holder Munish Sharma, when contacted by TOI, said he was indebted to his mother for her "single-handed effort" in supporting his dreams. Sharma lost his father when he was in Class XII. He also made it a point to credit TOI, "the first paper that he picks up to read daily" and added that he even had the TOI app saved on his phone.

Bharti Dixit, the topper among women candidates, told TOI that she credited "god and then her family for their support". Having cracked the exam in her very first attempt, Dixit said she relied on government websites and newspapers more than prepared study material. "I was already working as a doctor... so I could just manage four to six hours a day of preparation," she said, adding that she hoped to apply her knowledge of medicine to addressing the needs of the health sector.

The Civil Services Examination 2013 results were declared by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday, concluding the rigorous selection process comprising the preliminary examination conducted on May 26, 2013, the written exam held in December 2013 and the personality test in April-June 2014. While 14,959 of the total 3,23,949 candidates who appeared for the exam cleared the prelims, 3,003 passed the mains exam. Finally, 1,122 candidates cleared the last hurdle, the personality test.